Poll

Education

The teachers are not all right — they’re mad as hell about education funding, and they want legislators to do something about it.
On Thursday and Friday, thousands of educators and other supporters from more than a dozen school districts across the state — including Jeffco and Clear Creek — descended upon the state Capitol in hopes of sending a clear message to lawmakers about how they feel about teacher compensation and school funding in Colorado.

Elk Creek Elementary School’s longtime principal Ryan Lucas will depart at the end of the 2017-18 school year to take a job as principal of Governor’s Ranch Elementary in Littleton.
Announced late last month, Lucas’ departure was motivated, in part, by a desire to work closer to where he lives down the hill.
Prior to joining Elk Creek in 2012, Lucas taught at Belmar Elementary School in Lakewood and Evergreen Middle School, and was the director of Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen for two years.

More than 170 superintendents across Colorado, including those at Jeffco Public Schools and Platte Canyon Schools, have backed a legislative proposal that could dramatically alter how the state funds its schools — namely by changing the formula that determines how funding is distributed to school districts.

The Jeffco school board will start experimenting in March with a new meeting schedule that will see study sessions and special meetings added to the Monday following a regular Thursday night board meeting.
Discussed briefly at the Jan. 25 board meeting, the new schedule is meant to better accommodate board member schedules, as well as offer community members who may not be able to attend an evening meeting another opportunity to observe board activities.

Clark Stukey, a special education teacher at Chatfield High School, was recognized Thursday by the Jeffco school board for being named the Colorado Council for Learning Disabilities’ 2017 Outstanding Teacher of the Year.
Stukey, a 24-year teaching veteran, was honored in June 2017 with the annual award, which recognizes “outstanding performance and commitment by a professional who works in the field of learning disabilities in a role outside of the classroom.”

A Conifer man is suing Jeffco Public Schools over allegations that the school district, as well as one of its transportation directors, discriminated against him on the basis of a disability and violated the Americans with Disabilities Act while he was employed by the district last year.

Jeffco Public Schools will likely fund needed classroom additions at two South Jeffco schools impacted by the district’s shifting of sixth grade to middle school with surplus budget dollars and reserve funding next year, according to Superintendent Jason Glass.
On Nov. 1, Glass said that while the Jeffco school board hasn’t yet approved funding for classroom additions at Summit Ridge and Ken Caryl middle schools, it isn’t because the money isn’t there.